Nowadays, various electric utility companies are upgrading their electricity metering assets to Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) network. An electric utility company is a power source that involves generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for public consumption. AMI network is an architecture which comprises various non-Internet Protocol (non-IP) based devices and IP based devices and facilitates measuring and recording electricity usage data at predefined time intervals via various communication channels. The non-IP devices include advanced electricity metering devices (referred hereinafter as smart meters) which are electronic meters that record electricity consumption, load, billing and other metering data based on programmed logic. The smart meters are capable of transmitting the stored data to data-centers of electric utility company via the various communication channels upon request. The IP devices include network access points, relays etc. of the AMI network which facilitate two-way communication between the smart meters and the data-centers of electric utility companies via the various communication channels.
For optimal functioning of the smart meters, communication connectivity of all the AMI devices in the AMI network is a vital necessity. Communication failure of the smart meters or any other device in the AMI network disrupts the operation of the AMI network. Conventionally, in the event of a communication failure, faulty non-IP devices (i.e. smart meters) are detected by either identifying missing data or discovering Network Interface Card (NIC) communication failure event generated by the smart meters. However, this can be done only after network connectivity is restored, which may take any time ranging from a few minutes to a few days. This is so, as typically, the smart meters after experiencing a communication failure generate an event and store the event data, which can be collected and processed only after the network is restored.
Another conventional technique for detecting faulty IP devices and non-IP devices may include sequential mass pinging of the devices at regular intervals (for example using Internet Control Message protocol (ICMP) ping for AMI IP devices and data ping for AMI non-IP devices). Sequential mass pinging is a time-consuming process, and moreover, mass pinging of devices may also cause network packet bursts due to multiple packet flows and multiple packet arrival rates consuming the available limited bandwidth for AMI network and vast number of AMI devices. Accordingly, for IP and non-IP devices separate techniques exist for detecting communication failures. In addition, the above mentioned techniques entail cumbersome monitoring services and large communications overhead, even, in a small geographic area of the AMI devices. Further, in case of a large network, using abovementioned techniques to monitor and detect AMI device connectivity becomes infeasible.
In light of the abovementioned disadvantages, there is a need for a method and system for efficiently detecting communication failures of AMI devices with minimal communications overhead. Also, there is a need for a method and system for optimized monitoring and identification of AMI device communication failures. In addition, there is a need for a method and system for real time monitoring and detection of AMI device communication failures. Further, there is a need for a method and system that facilitates detecting all AMI IP and AMI non-IP device communication failures. Furthermore, there is a need for a method and system for identifying AMI devices experiencing communication failures in large network with minimum communication overhead.